POP Series 9

What POP Series 9 is

POP Series 9 is the ninth and last special set released through Pokémon Organized Play events and affiliated products, distributed from March 2009 to September 2009. It has 17 cards: 5 rares, Garchomp 1, Manaphy 2, Raichu 3, Regigigas 4 and Rotom 5, 6 uncommons from Buizel 6 to Pichu 11 and 6 commons from Buneary 12 to Turtwig 17, with Garchomp on the booster design and a basic Energy card in every three card pack.

It was the first Organized Play set of the Platinum Series and, unlike POP Series 6 and 7, every card except Gible 14 was new rather than a reprint. The set has no Trainer cards, but many of its Pokémon carry attacks that depend on other Pokémon from the set being in play, because the cards came from a Collection Challenge campaign in Japan that designed them to complement one another. Several Canadian leagues handed out packs at the end of February 2009, ahead of the intended release.

What makes POP Series 9 different

• The Pokémon Day Pikachu The Pokémon Day 2009 stamped Pikachu 15 is the most valuable card in the set in PSA 10 by a very wide margin, far above the regular Pikachu 15, which still ranks in the top four.
• Built to combine With no Trainers and attacks that reference other Pokémon in the set, POP Series 9 is the only POP set designed as a unit, a legacy of the Japanese Collection Challenge cards it reprints.
• French promos The set was never released in French, but most of its cards appeared in France as Cosmos Holofoil blister promos, including Manaphy 2, Raichu 3, Regigigas 4, Pikachu 15 and Piplup 16.

How POP Series 9 arrived

POP Series 9 began distribution in March 2009, after Platinum on February 11, 2009 and ahead of Rising Rivals on May 16, 2009, and it ran through September 2009. Its holographic versions came through Platinum Series products: the Cracked Ice Holo Rotom 5 in the Rising Rivals Blisters of May 20, 2009, the Cosmos Holo Manaphy 2 and Regigigas 4 and the Cracked Ice Reverse Holo Raichu 3 in the Supreme Victors Blisters of August 19, 2009 and the Cosmos Holo Lopunny 9 in the Arceus Blisters of November 4, 2009. POP Series 9 closed the Organized Play series.

POP Series 9 products

POP Series 9 was never sold in booster boxes. Packs were handed out at leagues and events and bundled in value packs and blisters, and the sealed table above tracks loose packs.

Collecting and grading POP Series 9

The Pokémon Day stamped Pikachu 15 leads the set in PSA 10, with Garchomp 1 second, then Turtwig 17, the regular Pikachu 15, the holographic Raichu 3, Piplup 16, Buizel 6, the holographic Regigigas 4, Pachirisu 10 and Rotom 5 in both prints. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

Organized Play packs were thin and rarely sleeved, so PSA 10 copies of every card are scarce and the gap between PSA 9 and PSA 10 is very wide, even on the commons. Holographic, stamped and regular prints are graded and priced separately.